The Puffer Forum

Hey all, it's been like... three months at least since I've gotten onto TPF, I think. My fiance went on his first deployment, I graduated college, I started a new job (which I hate with a passion and I am trying to get the hell out of there ASAP) and a thousand other little things all compounded into barely any time on the computer.

I'm about to shut down for the night, actually, but it's been so long and as the title suggests, I have something of concern. I didn't put it in the hospital section because.. I don't know, I don't feel as though there's any curing that can be done? If I ought to move it, please let me know, I'm kind of just in a funk right now with everything that's going on in my corner of the world.

My betta, the happily named Fahaka, seems to have dropsy. From what I've read, it's more a symptom than it is a disease, but it can be caused by about a thousand different things. I first noticed about a week ago that he seemed to be getting bulgy, but he was still swimming happily and fine. I started treating him with Melafix, since I read it could be a bacterial disease, and I went a day without feeding him, and then gave him little bits of shelled peas since those help with constipation and I read it could be blockage from pellet food. He looked better the next day, and then today I noticed he is much bulgier, and very lethargic. For a moment there, I thought he was getting better. Sigh. So, any advice is of course welcome, but I'm more wondering--how long to I treat him before I need to do right by him? It kills me to watch him suffer, he's usually very personable and flares out his fins when I come home and say hi. He's so droopy. It kills me.

Anyhow, I still can't figure out if I should have put this in hospital or here--it's a little bit of both. Let me know if I ought to move it. Thanks in advance guys.

hi! you had me worried about lola =P but anyway, im sorry to hear about your betta. im always worried about mine getting it because my last one died from it. if it was me, i wouldnt keep him alive any longer so he doesnt suffer. *hugs*

Heh, I know Hadla, I realized after I posted it I could have been a little more specific. It just doesn't make sense to me, that as a kid I had bettas in little bowls not knowing any better that survived perfectly for years, and when I actually get into the hobby and put him in a 10 gallon like he needs, he gets sick
Gage and I get to email each other, and I'm very upset (really I think of Fahaka as his, he picked him out), but he reminded me that we have no idea how old Fahaka is, or how long he was sitting in a little cup on a shelf in filthy water. I'm pretty sure he's older, he was basically fully grown when he got him. I just don't want to have to do it, you know?
Where does one buy clove oil...?

yeah, i hated to do it to all the dps that had just stopped eating and got to skin and bones. i had clove oil, but threw it out a few months ago. whenever i had to put down a dp, i put it in a little tank water in my aquarium measuring cup then dropped a cupful of ice into it. once it stopped moving completely, id wrap it up a paper towel and put it in a ziploc bag and take it outside to smash it flat with a rock(usually crying the whole time). i had read somewhere that smashing it is the best way to make sure it wont wake up and suffer more. i know it sounds terrible and i hope i never have to do it again. oh geez i hate myself for it now x.x

edit: if you didnt live on the other side of the country, id offer you my betta. he has so much personality! he flares out at me AFTER i feed him lol he could care less about his mirror image.

I PMed LGP, our resident betta expert.

Okay, well, first, you will want to stop the Melafix and do a huge water change. It damages the labyrinth organ, which is what anabatids use to breathe. Besides, it's not aggressive enough for dropsy.

Are you sure it's dropsy? You mentioned swelling, but not pineconing.

So, assuming it's dropsy, your options are:
-Continue to treat, switching to more aggressive antibiotics, on the off-chance that it's a symptom of something bacterial and not organ failure or a virus or something else that would cause this.
-Continue to treat him for pain/discomfort only - this would involve something along the lines of Epsom salts in the tank, possibly even periodic baths in a stronger solution. This can go on until he dies, you decide to euthanize, or he recovers (unlikely, obviously).
-Euthanize - I've done this before. I was losing a little six-month-old boy to dropsy, so I overdosed with Finquel. I based the decision on the fact that he had only a tiny chance of recovery and on my observation that he could no longer reach the surface to breathe. I decided there was no point in continuing treatment, and that he was probably not feeling too peaceful if he couldn't even breathe. Here's an article on euthanasia methods: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18520 However, if your betta is still able to move about and so forth and isn't acting panicked, you might prefer to let him die in his own time, or at least put off the decision for a while.

If you like, I can send you some Finquel, though you'd have to pay for shipping.

My Freddy had dropsy as well =( I had to euthanize him, so I froze a bowl of water and the temperature shock got him-- it was instant, but heart breaking. I tried to treat until I saw him start to pinecone. Keep an eye on him, because when he starts to do this, it means that there's not much more to be done other than to make him comfortable. Good luck, and I am so sorry =(

goldielock76, temperature (either hot or cold) is not a good option. I don't want to make you feel bad - what's done is done - but you should probably consider a different method if you're ever in that position again. It certainly wasn't the worst option, but there are faster and less painful ways to go about it. Check out the link I posted.

The problem with dropsy is that even if the disease is cured, the kidneys often have totally failed and do not restart. I have, however, successfully treated dropsy affected bettas with Kanaplex - nothing else ever worked for me.

LilGreenPuffer wrote:goldielock76, temperature (either hot or cold) is not a good option. I don't want to make you feel bad - what's done is done - but you should probably consider a different method if you're ever in that position again. It certainly wasn't the worst option, but there are faster and less painful ways to go about it. Check out the link I posted.

Well, not knowing what to do, I read the euthanasia article that we had in the Library. Not having any access to anything else but a pair of scissors (and I just couldn't do that) I went with the frozen bowl option instead.

Keep clove oil on hand.

Hey guys, I wanted to let you know I am reading what you are saying, I've just been stupid busy (excuses, I know ). Thank you so much for your help, and thanks PP for getting LGP on here for me. Everyone here truly is amazing
Fahaka does not have signs of pineconing yet, I'm keeping a very close eye on him. It seems to still be the early stages. Some days he is very lethargic, when the swelling is very large. I have tried to get a decent picture of him, but he isn't feeling compliant. I'll try again in a little bit. He still eats fine. Most days, the swelling is not so big, and he is still happy to see me and swims around.

Scorpio... What is Kanaplex??

I looked up the Kanaplex... since I don't know what it is that is causing the dropsy, is it safe to use it? Is it worth the risk/is this something than can harm him if he doesn't have a bacterial infection?

http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... FcQ8wIwAw#

Puffers are scaleless, so you won't see pineconing.

LilGreenPuffer wrote:Puffers are scaleless, so you won't see pineconing.

i thought you realized it but she is talking about her betta who is named fahaka =P